Douglas Allen Woody, a former bass guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band and a spinoff group, Gov't Mule, died on Saturday at the Marriott Courtyard motel in Queens. He was 44. The cause was unknown, said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner's office. Allen Woody, as he was known, was born in Nashville, Tenn., where his father, a truck driver, weaned him on the blues, country and rock oldies. Inspired by watching Paul McCartney play with the Beatles, he began learning the bass guitar at age 14. Not long afterward he first heard the Allman Brothers Band and became interested in exploratory Southern rock.

On Feb. 13 the Comprehensive Alcoholism Rehabilitation Programs, Inc. (CARP) will host its "16th Annual Spring Luncheon" that will feature keynote speaker Butch Trucks, co-founder and drummer from the Allman Brothers Band. The event begins at 11 a.m. and will be held at the Ritz-Carlton in Palm Beach. It will debut the Cathleen McFarlane Ross Award that will be presented to someone whose generosity of spirit recalls Ross's unwavering commitment to helping those who suffer from alcoholism and chemical dependency problems get the help they need.

After an eight-year absence, the Allman Brothers Band is back. This summer, 10 years after their first reunion tour, the venerable Georgia- based blues/rock band embarked on a 10-week trek that is scheduled to conclude with a two-show stop at the Sunrise Musical Theatre. The four original members of the Allman Brothers Band -- keyboardist Gregg Allman, guitarist Dickey Betts, and drummers Butch Trucks and Jai Johnny Johanson -- re-formed the group last spring, adding newcomers Warren Haynes (slide guitarist)

Artist turns guitar into work of art When artist Jeannette Parssi was invited by Gibson Guitars to participate in its upcoming Miami GuitarTown project, she did not hesitate. Gibson shipped Parssi a naked Epiphone Casino guitar, which she turned into a work of art. The brightly painted guitar, which the artist titled "Miami - Sunrise to Sunset," features a sunrise scene on the front, with an image of the Miami skyline at sunset on the reverse side. In an effort to enhance its value at auction, upon completing the work Parssi had the guitar autographed by all seven members of the Allman Brothers Band.

Plugging in rock `n` roll influences with his country, rhythm and blues roots, Gregg Allman developed a distinction for Southern boogie when he and his brother Duane formed the Allman Brothers Band in the early `70s. After years of determined work and an aggressive, uncompromising approach toward their music, the Allman Brothers Band was best known for its groundbreaking guitar work and rhythm section and became synonymous with the "Sound of the South." Gregg Allman had regularly gone outside of the group to pursue other ideas and styles and was praised for recapping the glory of the Allman Brothers` early days.

COCOA -- Rep. Bobby Brantley, a candidate for lieutenant governor on the Republican ticket with former Tampa Mayor Bob Martinez, played drums with rock musicians Gregg and Duane Allman in the 1960s, it was reported Tuesday. "I played with them for a few weeks after their regular drummer quit," Brantley told Florida Today. "I didn`t really want to stay with them. At the time, I wanted to get away from the drums and sing." The Longwood businessman said before joining the Allman Joys -- which later would become the Allman Brothers Band -- he had his own rock band, The Dalton Gang, in Jacksonville.

Nine months ago, the Allman Brothers Band rolled into Sunrise Musical Theatre and turned in a powerful 20th anniversary show that chronicled their greatest hits. On Friday night, the hard-jamming septet returned to Sunrise with a less riveting three-hour performance that survived a tepid start and finished strongly. Overall, the band`s familiar guitar-driven meld of boogie, blues and rock sounded was as fiery as ever; and Gregg Allman`s skin-chilling growl was at its snarling best. But it took the Allman Brothers Band nearly an hour to get untracked because the group was forced to do perform an onstage task that they have not done in almost a decade -- mix material from a new album with past hit songs.

He`s been clean since January. "I was just sick and tired of being sick and tired," says Gregg Allman, explaining his desire for sobriety. Still, there is just enough impatience in his voice to show that he also is sick and tired of that question. But as Allman, 42, reunites with three original members of the Allman Brothers Band for an album and summer tour, he admits it`s tough to escape the topic. He knows the band has a long history with drugs and alcohol, and he admits his reputation for missing shows on past tours.

Artist turns guitar into work of art When artist Jeannette Parssi was invited by Gibson Guitars to participate in its upcoming Miami GuitarTown project, she did not hesitate. Gibson shipped Parssi a naked Epiphone Casino guitar, which she turned into a work of art. The brightly painted guitar, which the artist titled "Miami - Sunrise to Sunset," features a sunrise scene on the front, with an image of the Miami skyline at sunset on the reverse side. In an effort to enhance its value at auction, upon completing the work Parssi had the guitar autographed by all seven members of the Allman Brothers Band.

Jam bands. The term won't go away, so why fight it? "People don't have their whole lifetime to describe something, but it's no big deal. We can live with the term," says John (J.B.) Bell, singer/guitarist/songwriter with Widespread Panic, an Athens, Ga. group that is near the top of the jam list with Phish and the Allman Brothers Band. "The basis is improvisation, in the sense of playing off of each other," Bell says. "There's more freedom to it. Then again, you've got some folks really going after the music in an exploratory form -- and others who hear `jam band' and say, `Oh, we'll become that.

Gregg Allman was just 22 when he came up with the lyric that would come to define the Allman Brothers Band: "And the road goes on forever." Three and a half decades on, Allman says he couldn't have imagined how prophetic that line from his 1970 outlaw anthem Midnight Rider would become for the old road dogs, who play Mizner Park Amphitheatre on Tuesday as part of a new U.S. tour to mark their 35th anniversary together. "I didn't envision it when I wrote it, man, to tell you the truth," Allman said, in a recent telephone interview.

Eric R. Danton, The Hartford Courant and Dan LeRoy, The Hartford Courant and Robert Hilburn, Los Angeles Times and Matt Schudel, May 2, 2003

Rock Allman Brothers Band: Hittin' the Note (PeachRecords/Sanctuary). Every Allman Brothers tune recorded since 1969 has featured Dickey Betts' sweet, soaring guitar sound -- until now. Hittin' the Note is the Allmans' first studio album in nine years, and the first without Betts, who was booted out of the band in 2000. Although the new Allmans lineup -- Gregg Allman on vocals and keyboards, Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks on guitar, Oteil Burbridge on bass and Butch Trucks, Marc Quinones and Jaimoe on drums and percussion -- does a fine job covering for Betts, it's just not the same.

Jam bands. The term won't go away, so why fight it? "People don't have their whole lifetime to describe something, but it's no big deal. We can live with the term," says John (J.B.) Bell, singer/guitarist/songwriter with Widespread Panic, an Athens, Ga. group that is near the top of the jam list with Phish and the Allman Brothers Band. "The basis is improvisation, in the sense of playing off of each other," Bell says. "There's more freedom to it. Then again, you've got some folks really going after the music in an exploratory form -- and others who hear `jam band' and say, `Oh, we'll become that.

Douglas Allen Woody, a former bass guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band and a spinoff group, Gov't Mule, died on Saturday at the Marriott Courtyard motel in Queens. He was 44. The cause was unknown, said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner's office. Allen Woody, as he was known, was born in Nashville, Tenn., where his father, a truck driver, weaned him on the blues, country and rock oldies. Inspired by watching Paul McCartney play with the Beatles, he began learning the bass guitar at age 14. Not long afterward he first heard the Allman Brothers Band and became interested in exploratory Southern rock.

Sarah Jessica Parker epitomizes the feisty new single woman in HBO's Sex and the City series. Off the screen she worries about being a good wife. Parker, who married actor Matthew Broderick in 1997, says it bothers her when he doesn't have his laundry done or "hasn't had a hot meal in days." "That weighs on my mind," said Parker, 35, in the Aug. 28 edition of Time magazine. Although she tells single friends how boring married life is and how lucky they are to have their freedom, she says she doesn't mean it. "It's just a fun thing to say to make single people feel better."

Jimmy Buffett remembers the days when he had to work in the winter, when he had no choice but to earn money to put bread on the table. Those days are history. Buffett has since parlayed his minstrel-of-the-tropics career into a cash cow that even Forbes magazine admires. Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band are currently on the Beach House on the Moon Tour, scheduled to come to Coral Sky Amphitheatre on Thursday and Dec. 11. The tour's moniker also is the title of Buffett's new album. Some tracks have a sparsely beautiful singer-songwriter quality -- some of his best work in years -- along with a few humorous tunes that should be crowd-pleasers.

In Paris, Pierre Cardin has come up with the ultimate luxury hotel, offering 39 suites at prices ranging from $900 to $5,000 a night. La Residence Maxim`s, named for the famed restaurant the couturier bought five years ago, opened this week in a remodeled mansion off the Champs-Elysees. Virtually everything in the hotel -- including the designer toilets -- was chosen by Cardin, a virtuoso of decor. Full-time services include masseurs, coiffeurs and manicurists. "Of course, if you want to bathe in champagne, that can be arranged too," said a Maxim`s spokesman, Pierre Crey.

Sarah Jessica Parker epitomizes the feisty new single woman in HBO's Sex and the City series. Off the screen she worries about being a good wife. Parker, who married actor Matthew Broderick in 1997, says it bothers her when he doesn't have his laundry done or "hasn't had a hot meal in days." "That weighs on my mind," said Parker, 35, in the Aug. 28 edition of Time magazine. Although she tells single friends how boring married life is and how lucky they are to have their freedom, she says she doesn't mean it. "It's just a fun thing to say to make single people feel better."

Depending on whom you ask, stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his super-successful hit TV comedy series on NBC is either very funny or completely idiotic. Seinfeld is shot in Hollywood but based on life on Manhattan's Upper West Side. New Yorkers had mixed reactions on Friday to news that series star Seinfeld had decided this week to call it quits after nine seasons and record profits. "I think it's good to end on a high note, especially because it's slipped a little," Dakim Duncan said as he prepared to order a late breakfast at Tom's Restaurant, whose now-famous orange neon "Restaurant" sign serves as a backdrop for the neurotic escapades of Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer, the show's main characters.

This summer's Woodstock concert is being promoted as the national, and perhaps international, music event of the summer with a lineup that ranges from '60s rockers to Seattle grunge bands. So far, 130,000 tickets have been sold at $135 each, many of them as part of air and bus travel packages. The tie-dyed T-shirts touting Woodstock '94 are sprouting like magic mushrooms in upstate New York. Bureaucrats are poring over voluminous engineering reports and permit applications. Word is on the Internet and inquiries - E-mail and otherwise - are coming in from around the world.